There were two very powerful tyrants engaged in a perp war against each other: the name of the first was Luxury of the second Avarice. The aim of each of them was no less universal monarchy over the hearts of mankind. Luxury many generals under him, who did him great service, as Plea Mirth, Pomp, and Fashion. Avarice was likewise very stro his officers, being faithfully served by Hunger, Industry, and Watchfulness: he had likewise a privy-counsellor who always at his elbow, and whispering something or other in his the name of this privy-counsellor was Poverty. As Av conducted himself by the counsels of Poverty, his antagonist entirely guided by the dictates and advice of Plenty, who wa first counsellor and minister of state, that concerted all his sures for him, and never departed out of his sight. While t two great rivals were thus contending for empire, their conqu were very various. Luxury got possession of one heart, Avarice of another. The father of a family would often ra himself under the banners of Avarice, and the son under t of Luxury. The wife and husband would often declare th selves on the two different parties; nay, the same person w very often side with one in his youth, and revolt to the other his old age. Indeed, the wise men of the world stood neu but, alas! their numbers were not considerable. At leng when these two potentates had wearied themselves with wag war upon one another, they agreed upon an interview, at wh neither of their counsellors were to be present. It is said t Luxury began the parley, and after having represented the e less state of war in which they were engaged, told his ener with a frankness of heart which is natural to him, that he lieved they two should be very good friends, were it not for instigations of Poverty, that pernicious counsellor, who made ill use of his ear, and filled him with groundless apprehensi

and prejudices. To this Avarice replied, that he looked upon Plenty (the first minister of his antagonist) to be a much more destructive counsellor than Poverty, for that he was perpetually suggesting pleasures, banishing all the necessary cautions against want, and consequently undermining those principles on which the Government of Avarice was founded. At last, in order to an accommodation, they agreed upon this preliminary; that each of them should immediately dismiss his privy counsellor. When things were thus far adjusted towards a peace, all other differences were soon accommodated, insomuch, that for the future they resolved to live as good friends and confederates, and to share between them whatever conquests were made on either side. For this reason, we now find Luxury and Avarice taking possession of the same heart, and dividing the same person between them. To which I shall only add, that since the discarding of the counsellors above-mentioned, Avarice supplies Luxury in the room of Plenty, as Luxury prompts Avarice in the place of Poverty. C.

No. 56. FRIDAY, MAY 4.

Felices errore suo

LUCAN, 1. 1, v. 455.

Happy in their mistake.

THE Americans believe that all creatures have souls, not only men and women, but brutes, vegetables, nay, even the most inaniinate things, as stocks and stones. They believe the same of all the works of art, as of knives, boats, looking-glasses: and that as any of these things perish, their souls go into another world. which is habited by the ghosts of men and women. For this rea

son they always place by the corpse of their dead friend a b arrows, that he may make use of the souls of them in the world, as he did of their wooden bodies in this. soever such an idea as this may appear, our European p phers have maintained several notions altogether as impro Some of Plato's followers in particular, when they talk world of ideas, entertain us with substances and beings n extravagant and chimerical. Many Aristotelians have lil spoken as unintelligibly of their substantial forms. I shall instance Albertus Magnus, who in his dissertation upon the stone, observing that fire will destroy its magnetic virtues, us that he took particular notice of one as it lay glowing a an heap of glowing coals, and that he perceived a certain vapour to arise from it, which he believed might be the sub tial form, that is, in our West Indian phrase, the soul of the stone.

There is a tradition among the Americans, that one of countrymen descended in a vision to the great repository of s or, as we call it here, to the other world; and that upon h turn he gave his friends a distinct account of every thing he among those regions of the dead. A friend of mine, wh have formerly mentioned, prevailed upon one of the interpr of the Indian kings,' to inquire of them, if possible, what dition they have among them of this matter; which, as wel he could learn by those many questions which he asked the several times, was in substance as follows.

The visionary, whose name was Marraton, after having elled for a long space under an hollow mountain, arrived at le on the confines of this world of spirits; but could not ent by reason of a thick forest made up of bushes, brambles, pointed thorns, so perplexed and interwoven with one anot 1 V. Tatler 171-Spect. 50 & notes.-C.

that it was impossible to find a passage through it. Whilst he was looking apout for some track or path-way that might be worn in any part of it, he saw an huge lion couched under the side of it, who kept his eye upon him in the same posture as when he watches for his prey. The Indian immediately started back, whilst the lion rose with a spring, and leaped towards him. Being wholly destitute of all other weapons, he stooped down to take up an huge stone in his hand; but to his infinite surprise grasped nothing, and found the supposed stone to be only the apparition of one. If he was disappointed on this side, he was as much pleased on the other, when he found the lion, which had seized on his left shoulder, had no power to hurt him, and was only the ghost of that ravenous creature which it appeared to be. He no sooner got rid of his impotent enemy, but he marched up to the wood, and after having surveyed it for some time, endeavoured to press into one part of it that was a little thinner than the rest; when again, to his great surprise, he found the bushes made no resistance, but that he walked through briars and brambles with the same ease as through the open air; and, in short, that the whole wood was nothing else but a wood of shades. He immediately concluded, that this huge thicket of thorns and brakes was designed as a kind of fence or quick-set hedge to the ghosts it enclosed; and that probably their soft substances might be torn by these subtle points and prickles, which were too weak to make any impressions in flesh and blood. With this thought he resolved to travel through this intricate wood; when by degrees he felt a gale of perfumes breathing upon him, that grew strong. er and sweeter in proportion as he advanced. He had not proceeded much further when he observed the thorns and briars to end, and give place to a thousand beautiful green trees covered with blossoms of the finest scents and colours, that formed a wil. derness of sweets, and were a kind of lining to those ragged

scenes which he had before passed through. As he was co out of this delightful part of the wood, and entering upo plains it enclosed, he saw several horsemen rushing by him a little while after heard the cry of a pack of dogs. He ha listened long before he saw the apparition of a milk-white s with a young man on the back of it, advancing upon full st after the souls of about a hundred beagles that were hu down the ghost of a hare, which ran away before them with a speakable swiftness. As the man on the milk-white steed cam him, he looked upon him very attentively, and found him t the young prince Nicharagua, who died about half a year be and by reason of his great virtues, was at that time lame over all the western parts of America.

He had no sooner got out of the wood, but he was en tained with such a landskip of flowry plains, green meadows, ning streams, sunny hills, and shady vales, as were not to represented by his own expressions, nor, as he said, by the ceptions of others. This happy region was peopled with in merable swarms of spirits, who applied themselves to exerc and diversions according as their fancies led them. Some them were tossing the figure of a coit; others were pitching shadow of a bar; others were breaking the apparition of a hor and multitudes employed themselves upon ingenious handicra with the souls of departed utensils; for that is the name wh in the Indian language they give their tools when they are bu or broken. As he travelled through this delightful scene, was very often tempted to pluck the flowers that rose every wh about him in the greatest variety and profusion, having ne seen several of them in his own country: but he quickly fou that though they were objects of his sight, they were not lial to his touch. He at length came to the side of a great riv

But; the comparative alverb requires "than."-H.